NEWS AGENCIES, CULTURAL DOMINATION, ANI) NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY OF THE PROBLENS OF NEWS AGENCY DEVELOPMENT IN SUB- SAHARA WEST AFRICA KWEKU KWENU TURKSON B.A. Hons., Simon Fraser University, 1975 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OP ARTS (COMMUNICATION) in the Department of \ Communication @ KWEKU KWENU TURKSON 1982 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY MAY 1982 All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Kweku Kwenu Turkson Degree: Master of Arts (Communication) Title of Thesis: A Case Study of the Problems of News Agency Development in Sub-Sahara West Africa. Examining Committee : I Chairperson: Dr. P. J. ~gantin~ham,Associate Dean, Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies, William H. Meldoy Professor Senior Supervis Dallas W. Smythe Professor Emeritus Maureen A. Cove11 Assistant Professor Department of Political Science Simon Fraser University External Examiner Date Approved: 25, 1982 PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the'rlght to lend my thesis, proJect or extended essay (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Slmn Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library ot any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be a l I owed without my written permission. 1 i t l e of Ttws i s/Project/Extended Essay A Case Study of the Problems of News Agency Development in Sub-Sahara West Africa. Author: rsrgnature) Kwenu Turkson i name ) May 25, 1982 (date) ABSTRACT This thesis is a case study of news agency development in West Africa, with particular reference to changes after independence. It examines news agencies and cultural dom- ination (in Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Ivory Coast) and how they affect national development. It specifically addresses the political and economic processes that have led to the role of the news agencies as an instrument for westernization and cultural domination. The methodology employed is historical, analytical, and theoretical. The thesis demonstrates that western emphasis on the "free Flow" of information and the equation of its absence to dictatorship has obscured the failures of the "free flow" ,system in the study of news agencies as a viable factor in national development. News agencies in West Africa tend to reinforce the colonial ties which were supposed to have ended at the attainment of independence. The thesis demonstrates that: (A) the monopolistic structure of the world news agencies and their domination of the flow of news in the third world have precluded the countries of West Africa from establishing an endogenous news agency; and (B) the governments of West Africa have recognized the need for national news agencies as a vehicle to express and promote their cultures and offer news about their countries. But their policies have not altered the traditional industry structure and one-way flow of information. The thesis concludes that unless the various West African governments change the structures of their news ii agencies by way of legislation and a major effort is under- taken towards endogenous communication, the development of a viable Pan-African agency will not occur. Two sets of policy measures are proposed to help set the West African media and culture on an independent course: (A) Measures that would assure the relevance (rather than profitability) of African news in the international markets. It will eliminate the argument of the western news agencies that African news is not desirable or profitable in the market- place, if the government-owned media in Africa eliminates the profit factor and makes African news relevant to the world community; and (B) Measures that would assure the complete overhaul of the *West African educational system and curriculum, so that gradu- ates would know more about African history and literature rather than European history and Shakespeare. These two mea- sures would assure that future elites and bureaucrats would not have distorted images of Africa and things African. iii DEDICATION For the Wretched of the Earth in Black Africa and the following comrades: KWAME NKRUMAH PATRICE LUMUMBA FRANTZ FANON AUGUSTIN NET0 AMILCAR CABRAL STEVE BIKO MALCOLM X For the Freedom Fighters who gave their lives and those who are still in combat on the African continent, especially in Fascist Azania and Namibia so that Africa our beloved continent will be free of European and American domination. For the African nation to be, so that my children in future will be able to walk on the soil of all Africa free of Africaner obscenities. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In writing this thesis I have benefitted from the help of a large number of people, to whom I am very grateful. At Simon Fraser University, my supervisor, Dr. William Melody, and my committee members, Drs. Dallas Smythe and Maurreen Covell, repeatedly prevented my focus from wandering. Professor Smythe (my intellectual guru) greatly influenced my thinking over the years, beginning in 1978 when I sat in on one of his seminars, then took directed studies courses from him and eventually became his teaching assistant and friend. We had several discussions over the years on development in Africa. I benefitted a great deal from my association with Professor Smythe, and later Professor Melody. I am also grateful to the UNESCO, Pan-African News Agency (PANA), Non-Allied News Agencies Pool (NANAP), Ghana News Agency (GNA), Nigerian News Agency (NNA), Agence De Presse Senegalaise (APS), and Agence Ivoirienne De Presse (AIP) for information they provided when I contacted them in person or by correspondence. Finally, this thesis could not have been completed with- out the continued understanding and encouragement of my family to whom I am greatly indebted. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................v LIST OF TABLES ....................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................ ix INTRODUCTION ............................................ 1 Footnotes .......................................... 9 I . CULTURAL DOMINATION AND LANGUAGE .............. 10 Footnotes ................................ 18 I1 . DEPENDENCY AND THE MEDIA: Theoretical Basis for Analysis ............................ 19 2.1 Economic Considerations.................. 24 2.2 Socio-Political Communications ...........26 2.3 Communication and Control ................28 Footnotes ................................44 I11 .. THEORIES FOR ENDOGENEOUS DEVELOPMENT.......... 46 3.1 Cultural Degradation..................... 51 3.2 The Role of the National Bourgeoisie .....53 Footnotes ................................66 IV . NEWS FLOW .....................................68 4.1 Nature of Coverage .......................71 4.2 Colonial Communications ..................73 Footnotes ................................ 76 V . THE FOREIGN NEWS AGENCIES ..................... 77 5.1 Reuters in Africa ........................ 77 5.2 Agence France Presse ................... :. 79 5.3 Associated Press and United Press International ............................ 82 5.4 TASS and Sub-Sahara Africa ...............84 5.5 Summary ..................................85 5.6 Development of African News Agencies .....87 News Agencies of Sub-Sahara Africa .......90 Map of Post-Colonial West Africa showing Senegal. Ivory Coast. Ghana and Nigeria ..............................91 Map of Post-Colonial Africa showing Boundaries inherited by the New Nations at Independence ..........................92 Footnotes ................................ 94 VI . THE FOUR COUNTRIES ............................95 6.2 Ghana ................................... 96 6.3 Nigeria ................................ 100 6.4 Ivory Coast ............................104 6.5 Senegal ................................107 6.6 Summary ................................ 110 Footnotes .............................. 112 VII . WEST AFRICA AND INFORMATION MULTINATIONALS ..113 Footnotes .............................. 123 VIII . COMBATTING CULTURAL DOMINATION ..............124 8.1 The Newspool of the Non-Aligned Countries .............................. 124 8.2 Objectives .............................132 8.3 Sub-Sahara African Participation....... 133 8.4 Functions .............................. 134 8.5 Pan-African News Agency ................ 138 8.6 Conclusion .............................140 Footnotes ..............................147 IX . ANALYSIS .................................... 149 9.1 The Extension of the Liberation Struggle to Information................ 149 9.2 The Question of Ownership ..............158 9.3 Prospects for A New World Information Order ...................................16 4 Footnotes ..............................167 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION ......................168 Footnotes ..............................173 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................174 ' vii LIST OF TABLES 1. News Agencies of Sub-Sahara Africa, 1977. ..........90 viii LIST OF FIGURES 1. Map of West Africa showing Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria ..........*...........*....91